(Monogenea) from Fishes of Iraq
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Basrah J. Agric. Sci., 26 (Special Issue 1), 2013 Checklists of Gyrodactylus Species (Monogenea) from Fishes of Iraq Furhan T. Mhaisen1 and Kefah N. Abdul-Ameer2 1 Tegnervägen 6B, Katrineholm 641 36, Sweden 2 Department of Biology, College of Education (Ibn Al-Haitham), University of Baghdad, Baghdad, Iraq e-mail: [email protected] Abstract. Surveying the literature concerning the occurrence of the monogeneans of the genus Gyrodactylus parasitizing fishes of Iraq indicated that there are 25 nominated species of this genus on 29 fish species. These are: G. baicalensis, G. barbi, G. ctenopharyngodontis, G. cyprini, G. derjavini, G. elegans, G. gobioninum, G. gussevi, G. katharineri, G. kherulensis, G. lavareti, G. longoacuminatus, G. macracanthus, G. malmbergi, G. markevitschi, G. medius, G. menschikowi, G. molnari, G. aff. mugili, G. salaris, G. shulmani, G. sprostonae, G. taimeni, G. vicinus and G. vimbi. All these species infected freshwater fishes, except G. aff. mugili which infected two marine fishes found in brackish waters. In addition to these species, some unidentified specimens of this genus were reported from 15 fish hosts among which five fish species showed no infection with any of the above nominated species of Gyrodactylus while the others showed mixed infection. Such unidentified Gyrodactylus species were recorded from 12 freshwater fishes as well as three marine fishes found within the freshwaters of Basrah province. Among Gyrodactylus species, number of hosts ranged from one host for 15 Gyrodactylus species to a maximum of 23 hosts in case of G. elegans. The distribution of the infection ranged from one parasite species in 14 fish hosts to a maximum infection with 21 Gyrodactylus species in the common carp (Cyprinus carpio). Key words: Monogenea, Gyrodactylus, freshwater fishes, marine fishes, Iraq. Introduction Monogeneans are small hermaphroditic worms that parasitize fishes and other aquatic animals. They infect fins, skin and gills of freshwater and marine fishes (59). The Class Monogenea includes 62 families, of which the family Gyrodactylidae has 34 genera. Among these genera, the genus Gyrodactylus has 518 nominated species of which 416 are valid species (91). However, number of Gyrodactylus species varies with varying references. Gyrodactylids are amongst the smallest monogeneans and some are similar in size to oncomiracidium larvae (200mm). The fusiform body has a posterior opisthaptor armed with 16 marginal hooks and a pair of median hooks. Anteriorly, two conspicuous cephalic processes bearing adhesive glands are apparent with no eye spots. The transparent body is dominated by the F1 generation embryo curled within the uterus (50). They are remarkable in that they give birth to live young, which already have a developing embryo, in a ‘Russian doll’ arrangement (58). Gyrodactylids feed on mucus, epithelium and sometimes blood (66). Secondary infections of the epidermal lesions with bacteria or fungi may also play a significant role in the pathogenicity of 8 Basrah J. Agric. Sci., 26 (Special Issue 1), 2013 Gyrodactylus (58). The pathogenicity of G. salaris on some strains of Atlantic salmon Salmo salar became clear in the early 1970s, when this parasite was introduced into Norway with juvenile Atlantic salmon imported from Sweden for aquaculture (94). In Iraq, the first gyrodactylid species, G. elegans, was reported from both Cyprinus carpio and Liza abu (21). Later on, extensive investigation on fish parasites from different parts of Iraq revealed the record of 24 additional species. These included G. baicalensis (98), G. kherulensis (27), G. markevitschi (1); G. ctenopharyngodontis (84), G. malmbergi, G. medius, G. paralatus (= G. macracanthus), G. salaris, G. sprostonae and G. vicinus (43); G. gussevi (4); G. vimbi (71), G. derjavini and G. menschikowi (44), G. barbi, G. cyprini, G. gobioninum and G. longoacuminatus (75), G. lavareti (2), G. taimeni (3), G. molnari (8), G. katharineri and G. shulmani (93) and G. aff. mugili (74). Information concerning gyrodactylids infecting fishes of Iraq are scattered in different local scientific journals, M. Sc. and Ph. D. theses as well as in few conference abstracts. Some of such parasites have been misidentified or given with wrong authorities and some parasite names are misspelled. Some of the infected fishes were given in synonymous names. For these reasons, it was decided to review these data in accordance with list of fishes of Iraq (57) and with up-to-date fish scientific names (61), to correct scientific names and authorities of the concerned gyrodactylids according to some major taxonomical references and a web site (62, 96, 91), and to provide a host- gyrodactylid checklist. Sources and Methods A total of 83 references (research papers, conference abstracts and M. Sc. and Ph. D. theses) dealing with gyrodactylids of fishes of Iraq were used to prepare the present review and checklists. Data from such references was gathered to provide gyrodactylid list and host- gyrodactylid list. Names and authorities of these gyrodactylids are checked with the list of nominal species of Gyrodactylus (64) as well as with two taxonomical accounts (62, 96) and the well known specialized electronic sites (99, 91). For fishes, the scientific names were reported as they appeared in their original references and then checked with the recent account on freshwater fishes of Iraq (57). However, the valid names used here were based, with minor modifications, on a relevant electronic site (61). Results and Discussion Surveys Achieved on Gyrodactylids of Fishes in Iraq The review of available literature indicated that since the first published account on fish parasites of Iraq (65) up till the first checklist of fish parasites of Iraq (78), no any gyrodactylid species was present from fishes of Iraq. Starting from 1984, when the first gyrodactylid species (G. elegans) was reported from two fish species (21) up to the present time, many surveys were achieved in different inland waters and fish farms and ponds which contributed in recording gyrodactylids from fishes of Iraq. These surveys 9 Basrah J. Agric. Sci., 26 (Special Issue 1), 2013 can be grouped into nine major categories according to localities of inspected fishes. These are: 1- Tigris River (26, 1, 56, 83, 10, 30, 31, 47) as well as some tributaries of Tigris River which included Greater and Lesser Zab rivers (4, 7), Lesser Zab River (75, 76, 93) and Diyala River (24, 25, 55, 87, 37). 2- Euphrates River and its branches (85, 15, 38, 44, 68). 3- Garmat Ali River, Basrah (70, 39, 72, 29) and Al-Salihiya River, Basrah (29). 4- Some lakes, depressions and marshes: These included surveys from Al- Tharthar region (73), Hemrin Dam Lake (54), Darbandikhan Lake (6, 8), Al-Qadisiya Dam Lake (49, 52), Al-Habbaniya Lake (82), Bahr Al-Najaf Depression (14, 16), Ibn- Najim Marsh (17, 63) and Al-Hammar Marsh (71). 5- Some drainage networks (51, 52, 47, 88). 6- Shatt Al-Arab Estuary in southern Iraq and Shatt Al-Basrah Canal (74). 7- Fish hatcheries (98, 80, 20, 32, 33, 75, 76). 8- Fish ponds and farms which included some from Kurdistan region (20, 5), Samarra region (73), man-made lakes at Al-Nibaey, north of Baghdad (23, 9), Al- Amiriya region, Baghdad (73, 34, 35), Al-Zaafaraniya Fish Farm, south of Baghdad (21, 19, 11, 12, 90, 13, 97, 48), some fish farms at Al-Medaen, south of Baghdad (48), Al-Wahda fish Farm at Al-Suwairah (98), Al-Latifiyah Fish Farm (21, 98, 89), two private sector fish farms at Al-Latifiyah region (89), Al-Furat Fish Farm, which was previously known as Babylon fish farm (27, 84, 79, 86, 43, 28, 41, 81, 42, 45, 18, 46), Al-Shark Al-Awsat fish farm, Babylon province (92, 67, 69), Technical Institte of Al- Mussayab Fish Farm (36), Earthern ponds at Saddat Al-Hindia district, Babylon province (40), Al-Aziziyah Fish Farm of Wasit Governorate (86) and Al-Dorah Fish Farm of Diyala Governorate (86) in addition to some floating cages at Al-Habbaniya Lake (22) and at Shatt Al-Hilla (40). 9- Some fish markets at Baghdad (41, 81, 42, 77, 2, 3). Gyrodactylids Recorded from Fishes in Iraq The review of literature indicated that a total of 25 nominated Gyrodactylus species are so far known from fishes of Iraq as well as some unidentified specimens of this genus. The following is an alphabetical list of such parasites. Gyrodactylid names and authorities are checked according to some major taxonomical accounts and web sites (62, 64, 96, 99, 91). The alphabetically arranged names of hosts for each parasite are quoted as they appeared in their original literature but the valid names have been updated according to Froese & Pauly (61) and the full authority of each valid fish host is shown in the host-gyrodactylid list. References of the records for each host within 01 Basrah J. Agric. Sci., 26 (Special Issue 1), 2013 each gyrodactylid species are chronologically arranged but references of the same year are alphabetically arranged. 1- Gyrodactylus baicalensis Bogolepova, 1950: This parasite was recorded for the first time in Iraq from C. carpio from Al-Wahda Fish Farm at Al-Suwaira and from Al-Latifiyah Fish Farm (98). Now, it has eight hosts. These are: Acanthobrama centisquama (52), Barbus sharpeyi, which is a synonym of Mesopotamichthys sharpeyi (85, 49, 68), Carasobarbus luteus (23), Carassius auratus (47, 48), Chondrostom regium (83), Cyprinion macrostomum (23, 9), C. carpio (98, 22, 79, 80, 43, 11, 12, 49, 90, 28, 87, 52, 48, 77, 75, 76) and L. abu (83, 90, 53). 2- Gyrodactylus barbi Ergens, 1976: This parasite was recorded for the first time in Iraq from C. carpio from Ainkawa fish hatchery, Erbil (75, 76). No more records for this parasite in Iraq are available. 3- Gyrodactylus ctenopharyngodontis Ling in Gusev, 1962: This parasite was recorded for the first time in Iraq from Ctenopharyngodon idella from Babylon (= Al-Furat) Fish Farm (84).